The size of a ger is apparently measured in “curtains”. A curtain is what is used to cover the side (round) wall of the ger. This was a one and a half curtain ger. Which is considered a big ger.

Notice also that there are no cots. Apparently, they do have cots. But this family is sleeping on the floor because they have just moved in.

Something interesting happened in the middle of all this. The lady, who was cooking got up, went to the door, opened it, looked out in the horizon and said something. The gentleman, immediately got up, put on a shirt and headed out.

We were explained that some of the camels had gone too far out. So, he went out to herd them back near to the ger.

That is the life of a nomad! Imagine having to do this in hot summers and cold winters!!

Since the family keeps moving and they are in the middle of the desert, there is no power supply. However, modern technology has made some part of their lives easier. Thanks to solar panels that they carry with them, they have a TV and a refrigerator!

Check out the Russian gun and some of the horse stuff on the wall.

The first thing I noticed as I entered the ger was the kitchen area. Basically a part of the ger on the right side was dedicated to be the “kitchen”. There were two big drums of water, a few basic utensils and a small gas burner with a small propane tank. The gas burner is used in summer. For winter, there is a small fire place near the middle of the ger which is lit up to keep warm as well as cook.

Moment we entered, the lady of the house put a vessel on the gas burner and started making stuff for us to eat.

This is our driver’s cousin. He owns three hundred heads (of cattle) and lives in this ger. They move their location as the grass gets over for the cattle to graze in. He said it takes about an hour for three people to take down a ger and pack up. We had absolutely no ability to talk to each other but we managed thru translations (by our guide) to learn quite a few things.

It was last day in the Gobi desert for us. As we headed for the city where our prop plane was to pick us up and take us to Ulan Baatar, we told our driver that we wanted to visit a nomadic family. He let us know that his cousin is a nomad and lived not too far from Dalanzadgad.

We told him that we were wanted to visit them. By now you know the routine. He suddenly got off the paved road and kept driving on dirt with single minded determination. We, of course, had no clue where we were going. After some time, we did see a solitary ger in the horizon.

And that is where we got to see a nomad’s life – up, close and personal!!

… when you realize that the airport does not have a printer. The hand write the boarding passes!!

(also known as “How Frustration can be turned into Fun”)

After watching sunset in the Flaming Cliffs, we headed back to our ger camp. On the drive back, we noticed the moon coming up with its full glory. Must be a full moon night in the desolate landscape of Mongolia. We asked the driver to stop the car and got out to take photographs. The moon is very difficult to take pictures of. I even put my camera on the car hood with a rock to stabilize the angle. No luck.

Finally, took the camera in my hand and rested my arms on the car to see if I could get a good shot. All I got was a criss cross pattern in the sky. The shutter was open for multiple seconds and obviously my hand was shaking.

Since I could not get the better of the moon, out of sheer frustration, decided to convert the criss cross into English alphabets. So, I focused at and shot the moon. Moment the shutter opened, I moved the camera in the pattern of “R”. And sure enough, I had written Roger’s and my name in the sky with the moon!

This was fun! All four of us were laughing our heads off.

We then went on to writing “S” for Sharmila and Shauna.

And upon relentless insistence of Roger, I drew a heart sign too!

Putting them in a collage was sheer brilliance from me 🙂

You will be amazed how silly the two of us can get when together.

Especially if you hand us a pen worth a thousand bucks 🙂